senior analyst

human resources business partner

engineer

developer ii

analyst

Southwest Gas

This company is extremely top-heavy.  There are many, many managers that are put in place to coordinate the use of web-based application systems and contractor agencies.  Half of the staff are contractors which means no benefits (health or otherwise) are offered by this company that I considered at one time to be a staple to the community.  There was no formal training; the supervisor has no idea how the department runs; it was TABOO to reach out to the supervisor for help but now I know why; and management tend to use the concept of hiring contractors as a way to overshadow their lack of involvement and engagement within the company.  I suppose it is easier to get rid of a contractor than a permanent employee - the messy and tedious requirement to justify the termination with HR is taken away.  Overall, as a utility company servicing three western states it was appalling to see how much money is arbitrarily tossed around by way of insignificant supplier contracts and consulting - there is a massive amount of "consulting" happening in this company that's been around forever which begs the question: why would a company doing business in the same region for over 40-50 years require consultants to run their daily operations?  Overall, there is zero managerial support for the people who keep things moving which begs the question of why those supervisors and managers are on kept in place to begin with.  Supervisors and managers should be available to guide and direct the employees but if the supervisor has no idea how the department functions then ... ?  Overall, with the amount of money that Southwest Gas spends on frivolous contracts and consulting, they could easily onboard a large number of permanent employees which would service their clients as well as the community in a more productive, supportive manner.  I give this company an 'F' and warn others that if the position isn't permanent - you should pass it up or you may just be wasting time and time is the most valuable commodity that we have.

As far as the job? Essential job functions = facilitate contracts, request information, upload documents, remit invoices, initiate change orders for renewals, exhibit due diligence in maintaining share drive records and shared files.  Requires basic email correspondence, typing, use of Adobe Sign and Oracle EBS.  Spreadsheets are still old school Microsoft.

Each district varies, and each department of that district varies. From my perspective, however, a running theme is that most of upper management tends to be baby-boomers, a generation which usually tends to come with an authoritarian-style of thinking. Many of them have worked nearly thirty years with this company and many of them are still left in the workforce and are soon approaching retirement.  The Company has put its management through lots of training to include personality training and trust training, but it seems like some of the older management resist change. I feel this generation of management needs to retire and make way for generations after them that value having a voice, work-life balance, transparency, and trust. I feel this is one of hardest parts of the job to deal with. Also, the workload can be heavy. Many projects can be going on and the workload can increase, and it is unlikely the company will hire more help. If you catch on quick and are good at what you do, do not expect a pat on the back - instead, expect a larger workload. This can quickly lead to burn-out. Additionally, some departments and managements are on-call for emergency responses, however, for non-salary employees, the overtime is good. Other than that, you can learn many valuable and transferable skills no matter what department or position you are hired for. No two days are the same, and there is often something new to learn. I feel the most enjoyable part of the job is the relationships you make with other team members in your district and in other districts. Corporate headquarters is based in Las Vegas, NV, where a lot of training also occurs. How fun is that? Also, the Company has a wonderful Organizational Delevlopment department that recognizes the changes occurring in today's workforce, and they try train in a way that is helping to promote a work culture that respects all personalities and ideas. I don't think what OD trains has permeated throughout the Company, but perhaps one day it will have. Health insurance is a bit pricey, but the company does offer both a 401K and a pension, which is not a common benefit offered by many companies these days.

I worked for Southwest Gas for just under 5 years. In that 5 years time, I was ostracized for wearing jeans on a Friday, received a complaint because I wasn't friendly enough, and was constantly judged for my introversion. If you don't participate in the company's programs like Fuel For Life, or any of the Wellness activities, you are treated like you don't exist. Meaning your colleagues will look past you, ignore you, not include you, or simply decide to never build a relationship with you because you aren't considered part of the "cool kids club".  The department I worked for went on walks every day with a large group and I prefered not to go because I sweat a lot and the heat doesn't do well with me. Because of my choice not to participate in this group activity (optional by the way), I was always ignored, and treated like I didn't matter. I really tried to put in my effort to due my job well but because I didn't care to make friends with my colleagues, I felt extremely isolated. I tried to give it my 100% but in the end, I was trained in a position that I was well over qualified for which caused me to find employment elsewhere. My suggestion is if you wish to work here, you must have an exceptionally high vocabulary, be extroverted, life of the party mentality, and know the right people to gossip with because gossiping is the center of this company. 

There's good experience to be gained here but understand that much of the field experience you gain is very specific to natural gas which operates like geographical monopolies where they have certificates of convenience in those areas, meaning if you want to use this experience at another company it's not like going to another hospital or some other business in your area. You may have to move to another place to really capitalize on your true work experience. If you plan on staying then hope you weren't counting on a pension like the folks you might know in your life. Many of the people in management or in the infrastructure of making decisions are more interested in putting a feather in their hat just to say something got done even when it costs the company lots of money with no regard for how it affects the employees, the employee candidate pool, or even proper operations sometimes. Often these things are masked to the employees at this company and management at the lower levels (who also know reality) are sent out to explain things that have no value but will cause more work and waste money to comply with the changes. It's great to get the job here until it isn't anymore.

They have since moved to a new office but I’m sure the culture is still the same. If you have goals of climbing the ladder or walking away with new skills to grow this is not the place for you. It will siphon whatever ambition and joy out of you after 3 months. 

The turnover rate for employees ages 25-35 was/is ridiculous. They entice you with the great salary and benefits package only for you to be a seat filler for a dept. Great money, of course, but not worth the career delay.

Speaking only about the dept I was in, there wasn’t a single succession plan or guide material for any newcomers to reference. All knowledge of my role was inside the head of a person who was already bogged down by work. They gave me pointless work, barely trained me, yet assigned me projects that I had no business being on just so my name could be on it. 

I’m sure this sounds like a cake job, and it would have been if I were interested in sitting on my butt all day “looking busy” but maintaining the air about myself that my position mattered like my former department manager. 

TLDR; look somewhere else, save yourself.

NV Energy or the Water Authority would be great alternatives if you’re interested in working in utilities. 

Beware of HR jobs... not a good place to work.  Cameras in the company vehicles to monitor your driving.  Pre-employment and random drug screens, different hours everyday, a lot of travel, no mentorship, and little appreciation.  There exists a lot of politics, games, gossip, blaming others... it’s not a good environment.  Not a place to develop or grow in HR for sure.  But good for field workers, it’s good. They get regular raises and decent time off.  Health Insurance is expensive but They have really good disability plans and pension.

Southwest Gas is a great place to work with benefits and definitely room for advancement.  They offer 80 hours per year of sick time (40 hours after 3mos of employment within the same year) and 80 hours per year of paid vacation after 1 year of employment or a prorated amount of hours after their provisionary period within the same year.  The culture is changing to be more focused on employees, what they offer and by giving them a voice which is awesome.  Definitely equal opportunities! 

This company has employees that have been there for twenty years plus and if you're looking to move up they will always be first pick. No matter if you're more qualified and/or have better stats; employees can have horrible ratings but longevity and surpass you. The management is allowed to talk to you anyway that they'd like because they've been there for so long and HR will back them and then join in on the harassment. This job is stressful and they are strict on how many calls you take and how often you leave your seat. 

Performing engineering design, reviewing contractor designs, managing project up to construction. Good company to work, slow to changes and very conservative. I loved that I have varieties in the projects I work on. Most supervisors do not have leadership training. Promotion is based on number of years spent with the company not based on skill or knowledge.No clear advancement plan if you work in the districts. Sometimes you find a few people mostly from construction throwing racist dog whistle around minorities. Obvious lack of diversity. Communication between management and employees can be better.

Typical work day is fast pasted and customer driven. I have learned
about product and infrastructure. Management supports
its employees and trust their judgement based on training and support provided by the company. The workplace culture is awesome and coworkers work as team players. The most challenging part of of the job is keeping up with the customer demand but is is also rewarding. The most enjoyable part of the job is achieving total customer satisfaction with helping them bring our services to a home or business.

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